1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical connectors for terminating electrical wires and cords, and more particularly to a strain-relief device used with electrical connectors to prevent forces applied to the electrical wires and cords affecting the connector or the connections made therein.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the manufacture of plugs, sockets, and other components in electrical wiring, for example, disposed at the ends of electrical cords such as extension cords, such plugs and sockets are typically fabricated as foldable assemblies between which the wires of the electrical cords are securely held and attached to electrical connector devices mounted in the folded and assembled electrical connector assembly. Example implementations of such foldable electrical connector assemblies are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,934,931; 5,975,941; and 6,056,588, each of which is incorporated herein by reference, which provide components to securely mount the cords and wires into the assemblies and which provide strain relief on the assemblies and the wires when the cores and/or wires are moved or pulled.
Heretofore, such folded and assembled electrical connector assemblies experienced weakening of their structural integrity in response to various pressures or stresses applied from different sources and directions. For example, prior art electrical connector assemblies have used fastening screws to hold the folded assembly in the folded configuration. However, such fastening screws have typically been incapable of securely holding the entire folded and assembled electrical connector assembly together in response to diverse sources of pressure or stress, such as pulling the mounted wires outward from the folded assembly.
A need exists for mechanisms which supplement the retaining capabilities of fastening screws or other fastening devices to securely hold the entire folded and assembled electrical connector assembly together, and so to relieve the strain experienced by the fastening screws/devices.
In the prior art, a foldable electrical connector assembly typically utilizes multiple fastening screws to maintain the structural integrity of the folded and assembled electrical connector assembly. Such use of multiple fastening screws complicate fabrication of the foldable electrical connector assembly and also increase the time and effort of a user to completely fold and secure an electrical connector assembly onto or about inserted wires.
A need exists for a foldable electrical connector assembly requiring a single fastening screw to reduce fabrication complexity and to improve the ability of a user to completely and securely assembly the electrical connector assembly with inserted wires.
In addition, in the prior art, such foldable assemblies typically utilize flexible/living hinges between portions of the unfolded electrical connector assembly, such that the portions are rotated around the living hinges to engage complementary portions to mount the wires and other components between the complementary portions. The hinges also function to keep the folded assembly together. However, due to external factors such as age and the application of external sources of pressure, such hinges may wear out or otherwise break, which may result in the dissolution of the folded and assembled electrical connector assembly.
A need exists for additional safeguards and mechanisms of foldable electrical connector assemblies to maintain the structural integrity of the folded assemblies even though any of the hinges between portions of the assemblies may break.
Furthermore, although strain relief mechanisms are known in the prior art, such strain relief mechanisms may limit the path of the wires mounted in the foldable electrical connector assemblies. For example, prior art strain relief mechanisms may cause exposed ends of the wire having different electrical characteristics, such as polarity, to engage each other.
A need exists for providing an improved path for the wires in the interior of the foldable electrical connector assembly to be disposed near an internally-positioned electrical connector device, and for providing such strain relief of wires running along the improved path.